


welcome to paradise.

by shuas



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cruise Ship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, M/M, a big mess, lowkey inspired by that cartoon show called stoked
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 16:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14719613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shuas/pseuds/shuas
Summary: Thirteen boys working on a cruise ship for an entire summer. What could possibly go wrong?or aka: the seventeen cruise!au nobody asked for.





	welcome to paradise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summer has begun.

Jihoon hates one thing.

 

Summer.

 

For starters, it’s stupidly hot outside. He doesn't have to do much for him to start sweating profusely. Jihoon could stand outside for only a split second before he feels beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. His airconditioning back at home barely works, too, so he’s stuck with his cheap plastic five dollar fan he got from the convenience store. 

 

Summer also means finally being released from every student’s prison -- school. And while Jihoon is more than happy be able to finally fucking  _ breathe  _ from all his honors courses and his after school extracurricular activities, he isn’t exactly able to enjoy his summer vacation like the rest of his classmates. Instead of school, he’s transported to another equally terrible place:

 

S.S SVT.

 

Or, in other words, his agonizing summer job he’s stuck with until late September. 

 

S.S SVT is a cruise ship that tours around the entirety of Asia. Sounds nice, but working for it.. not so much. He’s been working here since the summer of his sophomore year. It started with a half-assed application, and surprisingly, they took him in. He worked in the Banquet Hall for a year or two as a server before they promoted him as receptionist of the front desk. 

 

It sounds great - touring around the world, the ship providing pretty much everything in return for some labor work, but dealing with picky, snobbish customers is also something Jihoon hates with a burning passion. But the pay is too good to not keep coming back to. And if he wants to get into Seoul’s most prestigious music school once he graduates, he’s going to need all the money he can get.

 

(They also probably shouldn’t put the most bitter person on ship working as front desk, but hey, what can you do?)

 

It isn’t _ too _ terrible, because at least his friends are suffering with him. More or less.

 

“Welcome to paradise. Enjoy your stay,” Jihoon says flatly, handing the room keys to a family of two annoying middle schoolers. “Or don’t. I really don’t care.”

 

The mom with the pixie cut mutters something under her breath to her husband before (rudely) snatching the keys and heading towards their room.

 

Jihoon rolls his eyes, flicking his middle finger at their backs.

 

“Hey, I saw that.” 

 

He looks over to see Choi Seungcheol in a crisp white button-up and some black slacks, his gold nameplate glistening as ever. His black hair that typically looks like a bird’s nest is slicked back in some solid hair gel.

 

Seungcheol is definitely the high school’s jock you see in movies - except, he’s not an asshole. Not entirely, anyways. Captain of the basketball team and an honor roll student, everyone knows who Choi Seungcheol is. With an overachiever like him, it isn’t surprising to him that he’s one of the assistant cruise directors.

 

They hadn’t talk much during school. After all, they’re polar opposites. Jihoon’s busy with his music club while Seungcheol is always seen on the court. However, after his first summer working at S.S SVT, they’ve gotten rather close. Too close, maybe.

 

“Bite me,” Jihoon huffs, propping his chin on the palm of his hand. “It’s like every summer these customers get worse and worse. Pretty sure that soccer mom put a curse on me.”

 

Seungcheol clicks his tongue. “Maybe if you were a bit more friendly, that wouldn’t be a problem!”

 

“I wouldn’t have to be so snarky if they didn’t ask so many stupid questions. We have a website for a reason. And a brochure. And a tour guide, for Christ’s sake!”

 

Seungcheol rolls his eyes. “You’re the receptionist, Jihoon. Helping customers is like, your job description.” He reaches for his phone, thumbs tapping at the screen before he pockets it away, “I told Seokmin to make you a coffee. In the meantime, try your best to be nice please. I don’t want you getting fired.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Jihoon waves a hand in a dismissive manner. Nobody would fire him even if they tried.  “I want a tall, nonfat no foam latte with a caramel drizzle, by the way.”

 

“Whatever you want, princess.”

 

* * *

 

 

“You know, Jun, when you said you had a cool job opportunity on a cruise ship for me,  I was thinking more of the lifeguard position. Maybe working behind a bar making cocktails for the guests.” Minghao says as he struggles fitting his arm through the sleeve of his uniform. “Not fucking  _ housekeeping! _ ”

 

“Oh, come on Hao!” Junhui reaches for his sunscreen before lathering the lotion on his shoulders. “It isn’t so bad. Besides, you get to travel! You love traveling.”

 

“Easy for you to say! You get to work as the lifeguard by the pool while I’ll be busy cleaning other people's’ mess! I don’t even clean my  _ own _ room, Jun.”

 

“It’s not like you’ll be working alone. Vernon is there too!”

 

They both look over to the New Yorker who’s busy fiddling with his bowtie and attempting to fix his bed hair. 

 

“You missed a button, Vernon. Your shirt’s lopsided.” Minghao points out. Vernon gasps, and immediately undo’s all the button’s on his shirt. Minghao facepalms.

 

“Well,” Junhui starts, grabbing his sandals before closing his locker shut. “It won’t be that bad, trust me. Vernon’s a hard worker! Besides, after your shift ends, you have the whole evening to yourself to enjoy all of the cruise ships amenities - no charge! Doesn’t that sound amazing?”

 

“And when we’re docked at ports, we get to get off the ship and explore the destinations ourselves. Imagine all the photos you’ll be able to take for your fancy blog of yours.” Vernon pipes up, his uniform finally in tiptop shape. “I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go back to China over the summer anyways.”

 

Which is true. Minghao admitted to an international school for a reason. If it wasn’t for Junhui and his stupid idea, he would be forced to be sent back home because what else does he have to do here in Korea?

 

“God,” Minghao mutters, “You better hope your ass this is all worth it otherwise you owe me an entire summer, Wen Junhui. You hear me? And you,” He turns to Vernon, a finger jabbing his chest. “don’t make me do all the work.”

 

“Woah,” Vernon mutters, throwing his hands up surrendering. “Relax, man. I got your back. We’re all going to stick together this summer!”

 

It’s going to be a _ very  _ long summer.

 

* * *

 

 

“Oh, how I missed these awful quality bed cabins!”

 

Soonyoung tosses his suitcases to the side before flopping himself belly-first onto one of the beds. He takes a whiff of the freshly washed sheets and lets out a sigh of happiness. He may get a bad back for the rest of the summer because of these shitty beds, but he did sure miss them.

 

“No fair, you get the bottom bunk again this year?” Mingyu whines as he kicks the door open, arms filled with his personal luggage. 

 

Soonyoung shoots him a smug grin. “Gotta get here faster, man. First come, first serve, remember?”

 

“You know I always hit my head on the damn ceiling.”

 

“That’s what you get for being too tall!”

 

“Ugh,” Mingyu groans. He blames his parent’s genetics. 

 

Mingyu and Soonyoung have been friends since the beginning of middle school. After Soonyoung chickened out on the frog dissection in Biology and had the entire JV soccer team poke fun at him, Mingyu, the goalkeeper, sat by his side outside the hallway doing the busywork their teacher assigned them for those who chose to opt out of the dissection. Since then, the two hit it off, always connected by the hip. 

 

When their first summer came rolling along, they made a pact to get summer jobs in hopes to earn some cash flow to their empty wallets. They applied at the cruise ship, and after some convincing from both sides of their parents, they were hired. 

 

Soonyoung gets up from his already messy bed and takes a good look at the dorm he’ll be living in for the rest of the summer. Conveniently, they were always roommates, which Soonyoung didn’t mind at all. It was definitely better than getting a random roommate like the rest of the workers on ship. This year’s room is a bit more spacious than he had remembered it. There were two desks instead of one, a larger closet, and even their own bathroom. Before, he had to run all the way to the boy’s locker room located on the other side of the ship just to brush his teeth and use the bathroom. He’s not complaining, though. 

 

“Have you noticed our room this year is a bit bigger than before?”

 

“Well, it’s about time.” Mingyu scoffs, unzipping one out of the many suitcases he brought. “We’ve been working here for the past three summers. We finally got the upgrade we needed!”

 

“I guess.” Soonyoung hums. He lies back down on his side, a hand propping up the side of his head as he watches Mingyu rustle through his belongings. “You on lifeguard duty again?”

 

“Yep. Except, I’m training a new guy this year, so that should be… different.”

 

“Huh, interesting. I can’t see anyone taking lessons from you, you big klutz.” Soonyoung snickers, and Mingyu tosses one of the extra pillows lying around at him.

 

“Are you still working in Banquet Hall?”

 

Soonyoung scrunches his nose. “Yeah. I tried applying for a different position, but they were all filled up. Seems like we have a lot of newcomers this summer.”

 

“Sucks. You always manage to break a plate.”

 

“Shut up!”

 

They both erupt in laughter until they’re interrupted by the door swinging open. They’re surprised to see a raven-haired boy with cold eyes standing right before them.

 

“Uh,” Soonyoung says, confused. “Hi?”

 

“Room 204?” He asks, voice so low it sends Soonyoung shivers down his spine.

 

“Yeah. Who are you?” Mingyu asks, hands on his hips. 

 

“Wonwoo. Jeon Wonwoo.” Said Wonwoo person explains as he steps inside the room. He sets his suitcase to the side before making his way to the large closet, unlocking the hinges and pulling a bed down. “I’m your new roommate, I guess.”

 

“Woah, wait. There was a bed in there?!” Mingyu asks in utmost disbelief. He’s never seen a murphy bed in person before. “Aw man, If I would’ve known I could have taken that bed instead of the top bunk!”

 

“Unlucky.” Wonwoo mutters. 

 

“Well.. I’m Soonyoung. And that’s Mingyu. It’s nice to meet you!”

 

“Likewise.”

 

The one-worded responses is definitely harshing Soonyoung’s mellow, but he does his best to stay his optimistic self. He’s probably just shy, he thinks. 

 

“So.. if you’re rooming with us, I’m assuming you work here on the ship as well. Which department are you in?” Soonyoung asks with curiosity, sitting upright on his bed now.

 

“Banquet Hall.”

 

Soonyoung claps his hands together. “No way, me too! I guess we’ll be coworkers, huh?”

 

Wonwoo only grunts in response, too occupied unpacking.  Mingyu throws Soonyoung a look.

 

“Is.. it your first year working here? Mingyu and I have been here for the past three years.” Soonyoung tries again.

 

“Yeah.” Again, silence after that.

 

“Great! Just.. great.” Soonyoung says with a nervous laughter. He side eyes Mingyu, to which he merely shrugged and went back to hanging the rest of his clothes.

 

* * *

 

 

“This is Jihoon. Jihoon, these are your new coworkers, Vernon and Minghao.” Seungcheol introduces the newcomers with too much enthusiasm for Jihoon to handle.

 

He sets the tourist magazine he re-read for the hundredth time down and gives them a quick once over. “Housekeepers?”

 

“Unfortunately.” The black-haired mullet kid responds. Mini Leonardo DiCaprio elbows him in the ribs and mutters a not-so-subtle “be polite”.

 

“It’s fine.” Jihoon reassures the two of them. “Working here sucks ass. Who brought you into this mess?”

 

“Hey, Lee Jihoon, watch it.” Seungcheol warns. “Anyways, Jihoon works receptionist and there’s two bellhops named Seungkwan and Chan. They haven’t arrived yet, but they’re great kids. Jihoon’s okay too, I guess. When he’s in a good mood.”

 

Jihoon sticks out his tongue.

 

“He’ll show you the ropes around this place. Training will officially start tomorrow, but for now go ahead and meet everyone to get settled in.” Seungcheol explains as he shoves the two to the front desk. “I have to plan a seniors only event. I'll see you at the dining hall!”

 

And with that, Seungcheol rushes out of the room barking out certain directions in his ear piece.

 

“So,” Jihoon starts, arms folding across his chest. “What made you want to work here?”

 

“My friend dragged me into this.” Minghao grumbles. “Vernon just thought the whole cruise ship thing would be a cool experience.”

 

“Huh, bummer.” Jihoon clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “Nice to meet you guys both. We all suffer together on this ship. Housekeeping is a pain in the ass. Done it once, won’t do it again.”

 

“Thanks for that.” Minghao sighs, head down on the receptionist table. Vernon gives him a gentle pat of the head.

 

“It hasn’t even been a full day yet, Hao. You gotta relax.”

 

Jihoon redirects his attention back to his magazine, lazily flipping through the pages and pages of overly edited photos of the cruise ship. “He’s right, kid. It’s not too bad. You get free food whenever.”

 

“See.” Vernon grins. “You love food!”

 

“Say, where are you guys even from? You guys don’t look like you attend Pledis High.”

 

“We don’t! We’re both from an international school in Seoul.” Vernon explains, back leaning against the receptionist desk.

 

“That explains the weird names.” Jihoon says out loud.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong with our names?” Minghao pouts.

 

“Weird, as in, unique.” He corrects himself. They both shrug it off. “Anyways, welcome to paradise - or hell is what I like to call it. You’ll be here for a while.”

 

* * *

 

  
  


“He is such a.. downer, Seokmin! I’ve never met anyone so negative before!” Soonyoung exclaims, slumping down on one of the benches of the men's’ locker room as he waits for his friend to change out of uniform.

 

Seokmin yanks his coffee-stained apron off and shoves it into his duffle bag. “He could just be shy, Soonyoung. Not everyone can be as outgoing and energetic as you.”

 

“Okay, that’s what I thought too, but I think he just hates me and Mingyu.” He juts out his bottom lip. “I tried conversing with him and even offer to help him unpack, but he just shooed me away. Can you believe that?!”

 

Seokmin chuckles, slipping on a new t-shirt and jeans. “I think you’re coming off too strong there, bud.”

 

“You think so?” Soonyoung sighs, burying his face in his hands. “I don’t want to live with a roommate who hates me for the entire summer. I’ll have to sleep with my eyes open!”

 

The latter closes his locker shut before slinging his duffle bag over his shoulder. “It just takes time. He’s new, probably doesn't know anyone on the ship, and it’s probably his first time even on a cruise ship. Sooner or later, he’ll open up to you.”

 

“Gosh.” Soonyoung frowns, getting up from the bench and following his friend out of the locker rooms. “I hope you’re right about that. Mingyu isn’t too keen on him, either.”

 

“You know what I always say, don’t judge a book by its cover!” You can always count on Seokmin to brighten up someone's mood. They walk down the halls of the bottom level of the ship before reaching two large twin doors, a golden plate labeled ‘DINING HALL’ in bold letters just above it. 

 

The dining hall is nothing special, the name just a label  to make it seem like the ship is more extravagant. It’s more or less like a school’s cafeteria, except they at least have nicer and bigger tables and chairs to eat at  The food is definitely better than cafeteria food, though. The buffet line often times serve lobster tails and steak for dinner. 

 

Seokmin spots Jihoon and Seungcheol, along with a few unfamiliar faces, at their regular table in the far corner. 

 

“Hey!” Seokmin calls out. Seungcheol waves at both of them and gestures them to sit.

 

“Hey, Seokmin. Soonyoung. These are our new employees. Minghao, Vernon, and Jun!”

 

If they were already invited to their table, they must be good people. “Welcome to the ship, guys!” Seokmin greets them with nothing but eyesmiles, and they do the same.

 

“At least we have some nicer coworkers..” Soonyoung sighs, stealing a fry from Chan’s plate. 

 

“Hey!” Chan protests, shielding his plate in an attempt from preventing the older from stealing another one. 

 

“Who’s the jerk you met today? Who do I need to beat up?” Seungcheol jokes, but Soonyoung knows he’s somewhat serious. He’s always been such a protective dad.

 

“My roommate! His name’s Wonwoo or something..”

 

The group exchange the same confused look to each other.

 

“Gyu told me about him.” Seungkwan pipes. “The brooding emo kid?”

 

“That’s one way to describe him.” Jihoon snickers.

 

“Ah, Jeon Wonwoo? He’s in Banquet Hall, right?” Seungcheol shoves a spoonful of rice in his mouth. “I think he’s just shy. He’s pretty polite to me.”

 

“That’s probably because you’re pretty much in charge of this entire ship. He  _ has _ to be nice to you.”

 

Seungcheol pulls a face. “Jeonghan is in the same job position as I am, you know.”

 

“But  _ you’re  _ the bad cop. Besides, when’s the last time you’ve actually seen Jeonghan work? Did he even show up?” Soonyoung asks with a brow raised.

 

“...Touche. Where is that guy anyways?”

 

“Probably flirting with the new entertainer. I think his name’s Jisung? Jiwoo? I saw him trying to help set up the stage for tonight’s performance.” Chan snickers.

 

“Who cares! I have to work with Wonwoo!” Soonyoung cries. “I am  _ not  _ looking forward to tomorrow.”

 

“Like I told you before,” Seokmin sips his orange juice. “Give it some time! If you’re all rooming together in one dorm, you have to get along, whether you like it or not!”

 

“He’s right.” Seungkwan agrees. “Brooding emo kid will have to like you eventually. Don’t let it get to you. If anything, you can just pretend he’s not there.”

 

“Harsh.” Vernon comments.

 

Seungkwan merely shrugs.

 

“Come on, guys. Let’s just try and be nice to everyone here.” Seungcheol says with his usual dad voice. “Like Jihoon says, we’re here to suffer on this ship together.”

 

“You guys are really doing a great job welcoming the newbies and definitely not scaring them.” Junhui gives a nervous laughter, unsure what exactly he and his friends signed up for. He could feel Minghao sending daggers with his eyes.

 

“Oops. Forgot about that.” Seungcheol rubs his nape in a sheepish maner. “It really isn’t that bad. We just like to be dramatic.” He looks at the others for a unison agreement.

 

“Yeah, it’s fun sometimes. We all have our bad days, though.” Seokmin agrees.

 

“Well, cheers to this year’s summer. I’m sure it’ll be a great one!” Seungcheol raises his glass of water, the others following in suit. The kids from the international school exchange some weird glances, but do the same nonetheless. 

 

Their glasses clink against one another. Summer has just begun. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it is so hard to try and fit all thirteen boys into one chapter,,, hhhhhhhhhh


End file.
